SOUTHLAND AND STAGNATION.

Southland Times, Issue 18830, 25 May 1920, Page 2

SOUTHLAND AND STAGNATION.

To the Editor. Sir, —I read the letter by “Consistent Observer” on the cause of Southland’s stagnation and your leading article thereon with considerable interest, but will admit that I was not greatly impressed by either. “Consistent Observer” simply states that Southland is stagnant, and in your article you seem to argue that while the farmer may be in a state of stagnation, the province as a whole is not so, and you instance the electrification scheme as an evidence of progress. Now to assert that Southland is stagnant is not to prove it so. “Consistent Observer” brings neither facts nor figures to bear on the question. Emphasis and reiteration are neither proof nor convincing argument. Further, it seems to me that the gentleman who occupies the editorial chair of the Southland Times of the year 1940 will be more competent to pass judgment on that scheme than its present occupant; to judge whether it was a sign of progress or a rash leap in the dark. “Consistent Observer” compares Southland unfavourably with Canterbury; but before admitting the superiority of Canterbury I would want more evidence than he submits. Numbers of Canterbury farmers come to settle in Southland, and they seem so content with the conditions here that they rarely return. Can Canterbury grow more oats per acre than we do ? Do they fatten more stock to the 100-acre farm than we do ? Or what are the points on which the Canterbury farmer can claim to be superior? Has he better stud flocks of sheep, or stud herds of cattle than there are in Southland? His flocks and herds may have been longer, established, but their superiority is a matter of argument. In one particular line the Canterbury farmer is hopelessly outdistanced by his Southland rival—the Southland dairy cows produces almost double the amount of butter-fat that is obtained from the cow dwelling in progressive Canterbury. While not admitting that Southland has anything to fear from comparison with Canterbury, I submit that such comparisons are hardly fair to her. Canterbury is one of the oldest settled provinces in the dominion, while it is only during the last twenty-live years that the tide of settlement has set towards Southland. A nation may be born in a day, but a province is not brought to its fullest production in one generation, nor in three. The story of Southland’s “stagnation” during these twenty-five years is one of which no province in the dominion need be ashamed. Waste lands have been made into fertile farms, swamps have been drained, bush land cleared and grassed, factories multiplied, townships built, hundreds of miles of road constructed, and her products increased greatly in quantity and value. It will, I suppose, be admitted that the progress and wealth of the province depend on the success of the man on the land. Most of the other branches of industry exist because of him and for him; they are dependent on him and he on them. In many cases he is handicapped and production is retarded because certain branches of industry are not proving capable of supplying his requirements. Prices of material to the farmer have greatly increased, but in most cases he is willing to pay if the article is forthcoming. In many cases it is not forthcoming. Does he require a large boiler to cope with an increase of milk in his factory, there is no foundry in Invercargill that will build it. Complicated dairy factory machinery in many cases must be brought from Denmark, Sweden, America or some other foreign country. If he wishes to build an addition to his house to accommodate, his evergrowing family, or enlarge his cowshed or stable, he probably has to wait long for his timber and longer still for the carpenter to use it. He is willing to pay stiff prices for fertilisers, but sometimes the merchant cannot supply them. Lime is to him a necessity, but Southland lime kilns cannot cope with his demands. His cool stores and freezing chambers are full of his produce and the people responsible for their carriage have failed him. Owing to war conditions you will say, admitted, but he filled them under war conditions—he proved adequate under war conditions, and is now handicapped and harassed because someone else has proved inadequate. There is ample scope for the farmer’s energjf' and ability on his farm. He would, I think, be content with producing if he was well served by the dependent industries, but there is a growing discontent in the farming community with the service he is receiving, and force of circumstances seem likely to drive him into certain channels which under favourable conditions he would be content to avoid. In conclusion, I most heartily agree with you and with “Consistent Observer” when you write of the fertility and capacity of Southland, for natural advantages— she has no superior among the provinces of at least the South Island.—l am, etc., P. ARNOTT, Seaward Downs.